IDF says it 'wrongly' killed Hamas hostages in Gaza

IDF soldiers accidentally killed hostages in Gaza/Collage 24 Channel

The Israeli military continues the operation to eliminate Hamas. Unfortunately, there were also casualties among the hostages held by the militants.

IDF Speaker Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari spoke about this. He noted that on the morning of December 15, during fighting in northern Gaza in Shejai, the Israeli military mistakenly opened fire on the hostages.

They were perceived as a threat

According to Hagari, IDF is responsible for the “tragic incident”.

This an area where soldiers encountered many terrorists, including suicide bombers. – he adds.

He also named the names of the hostages:

• Yotam Chaim, abducted by Hamas from Kfar Azah;
• Samar Talalqa, abducted from Nir-Am;
• the name of the third hostage was not disclosed at the request of his family.

He was asked how the hostages could escape from Hamas captivity. To this, Hagari said that the military assume that “the three escaped or were abandoned by the terrorists who held them captive.”

< p>Hagari in his statement says that “after the shelling, during scanning and examination, suspicion immediately arose about the identity of the dead, and their bodies were quickly transferred for examination to Israel, where the hostages were identified.”

This is a sad and painful event for all of us, and the IDF is responsible for everything that happened, he says.

Hagari added that the IDF immediately began investigating the incident.

“This is a tragic event that occurred in a combat zone where troops in recent days and today faced many terrorists and fought fierce battles,” he emphasized.

According to him, in some cases, the military encountered suicide bombers, as well as attacks in which Israeli forces attempted to ambush. He noted that shortly after the tragic incident, there was another clash with militants near the scene.

Haghari added that the IDF is still working on ” gathering facts and understanding the details of the incident.” At the same time, the Army received new hostage identification protocols “to do everything to prevent the recurrence of such tragic events.”

He noted that the Israel Defense Forces expresses deep sorrow over the disaster and also shares the grief of the families.